Localized blow distributing football headguard



J. P. TAYLOR April 9, 1935.

LOCALIZED BLOW DISTRIBUTING FOOTBALL HEADGUARD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. l, 1932 FIG. l.

INVENTOR LIE/155' R THYLR BY m/ ATTORNEY April 9, 1935. .1. P. 'TAYLOR 1,997,137

LOCALIZED BLOW DISTRIBUTING FOOTBALL HEADGUARD Filed Nov. l, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR L.IF/M555 F.' 'r Y1. 0R 5 BY @Y i0 FIG M fr. ATTORNEY v Patented Apr. 9, y 1935 l Y1,997,187 Y PATENT OFFICE LooALIzED BLoW DISTRIBUTING FOOTBALL HEADGUARD Y James P. Taylor, Brooklyn, N. Y.V Y Appuction'Noyembef 1, 1932, VSegal No. 640,595

3 (lllainis.

This .invention relates to body protectors of the type employed `for protecting'participants in violent games, suchas football.' i f. f

The object of the invention is to prevent the 5 injurious effects to the body of. either an extremely localized force from aV blower; the sudden application to a part of'the body itself of the entire force of a blow, although. the same may be distributed Vover a large area."y Stated diierently, the principal object ofthe'invention is to provide first for a shock absorbing local yielding in response toa blow, then the 'distribution of the Vforce of the `blowover a localized area of substantial extent, and then for the shock absorption of the said locally distributed force. In carrying out my invention, I have found it particularly applicable to the protection of the head of football .players and have found that a satisfactory embodiment Vmay be fabricated functionally out of three parts; an outer layer, relatively thin, of resilient elastic material such as foam or sponge-rubber, a thicker inner layer of the samefoam or sponge rubber, and intermediate the-two layers, bridges preferably discontinuous and out of contact with one another of strong, stiff material -such as cane or wood. f Y

In completing a preferred embodimentV the outer layer` orwall of sponge rubber is protected on its exterior by means of a sheet of soft rubber, and I prefer to overlie or bridgethe bridge pieces with a sheet of chamois andto protect the head engaging lsurface of the formation by means of an inner sheet of soft rubben All the parts may be cemented or vulcanized together and the helmet may vary in contour and Vsize to fit different heads and to accommodate more or less parts of the skull to be protected. Ear guards may be present if desired.

Particularly, my invention avoids the ineffective protection from such helmets as are constructed on the principle of employing a complete substantially non-resilient shell of sole leather, or other stiff material provided with Yinterior padding. I .prefer to provide fo-r the actual absorption of a blow as much as possible before a part of the human being is obliged to receive it, and particularly in connection with the head, it is an object to relieve the neck of Y Y the player from the usual sharp snapping action occasioned by the use of a shell -type.of helmet which imparts a snap to the neck in response to a substantial force before the player realizesA he must resist a force. In my construction it is important that I provide an initial yielding which .ois 8 cemented to the bridges.

(0152-3) c is imparted by the outer cushion of soft rubber so thatduring Vthe interval of the compression ofthis outerglayer the player is warned and has `timeto prepare forthe next snapping force which, with the use of my helmet, is never. sor f great as with thoseheretofore provided; Afterl the warning, my helmet insures a distribution of `Vany localized force over a sufficiently great local area to preventlocalinjury such as skull fracturefbut at the "same time, limits `the area of distribution land enables the' shock absorb ing inner layer to function actually to absorb a large amount of the force before thenatural inertiaof the body part tends to be overcome which must be overcome before the next snapping :e

action commences. My claims are. directed to an illustrative embodiment of my invention described in the following specication in connection with the'ac'.- companyingdrawings, but solely for purposes'iof` illustration and not limitation.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a football jhelmetV embodying my invention and showing some of the interiorconstruction in dotted lines; Fig. 2

is asimilar front elevation; Fig. 3 is' a Yhorizontal 25.

section Vthrough the helmet; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged vcross-section through the protective wall of the helmet. t f In the vdraw-ings,'acomplete helmet A having ear guards Band B is illustrated as provided 30' with the usual chinr strap I; In the construction of my protector, the functioning features are best brought out by reference to the enlarged cross-'section of Fig. 4 which is typical of my invention whatever the locality to be protectedf-35 In this construction, the outside is preferably p-rotected by a thin sheet of skin rubber 2 overlying and cemented to a sheet of chamois Vskin 3. The chamois skin imparts the necessary strength to prevent tearing from rough usage@y and protects the outer shock absorbing. layer of sponge'rubber 4 which is spaced apart from a thick inner layer of sponge rubber 5; Between these two layers of sponge rubber are separated*Av discontinuous strips or bridges of cane 'l which 45 are tied togetheror bridged by. arsheet of lcham- If desired,n the spacesbetween the bridges 1 may be filled with` sponge rubber 9 which functionally has the .most

usefulness in maintaining the spacing of the50` punched through the wall at localities between bridges 1. The drawings show the bridges 'l arranged in live major groups: one is the double side by side row extending from V.ear to ear over the Cranium and indicated collectively by 1A; another is the frontal group .1B in which the bridges run substantially vertically; another is the group 1C top frontal; another Vare the two horizontal rows lDat the rear of the skull.; and the last y'group are the vertical bridges in Agroup 1E ior the ear guards B and B'.

Where the bridges overlie a decidedly curved portion of the part of the body to be protected, they are bent and permanently vset yto approxi,-`

mate the elements of the contour which they` overlie. This may be done by steaming and dry V ing as is well known in the cane, and wood work-` ing art.

As a result of my construction, the entire-protector is lighter in weight than those heretofore provided 'anddiffers'from all others in protecting against the lextreme localizing of a blow and against the sudden imparting of the entire force of the .blow to the whole head. On the reception of a blow, the outer skin rubber andchamois prevents tearing and the immediately inner relatively thin layerof'sponge rubber yields throughout the entire area of the blow with,l however, a

slight spreadingof V.the force. When the yield.- ing limparted by the blow .reaches the locality of the bridges 1, a substantial spreading of the force takes place which, however, is nevertheless still maintained local relatively to thexentire helmet and-the yielding of the inner layer of sponge rubberiactually'absorbs. a large partof the blow before it is distributed over a isufciently large area of the skull to .prevent concussion. In no case is there a stiff outer shell which moves .as .a whole to impart 'a vsudden Vterrific force to ithe entire `head of the'type many times resultingin the breaking of the neck. vSufficient warning suiciently early 'is imparted to thev wearer of my protector during thetimethat it rtakes for vthe outer layer of sponge rubber Vto yield V.for the wearer to :prepare to resist against neck .fracture and thereafter is .protection againsttoo great .localizing z of :the blow, and the` absorption -iofta large part of its force takes place. Y J

An important feature of my construction is isomer/ that after each blow the parts resume'their initial normal position ready to receive another blow and function over again. The inner material in my construction is reduced to a minimum and the entire guard may be washed to maintain its sanitary condition. In fact, it may be immersed in water without absorbing water, and in general, provides better protection than hereto- .fore with less weight and with fewer unpleasant features." I y What I claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

v l. In a protective head covering, a locally shock absorbing helmet for protectively covering the skull, comprising an outer wall of material which is resilient and elastic both locally and throughout its extent, 'such as foam rubber; an inner wall of substantial thickness, also of material resilient and elastic, both locally and throughoutits extent, such as sponge or foam rubber; and'v intermediate said walls, spaced discontinuous force vdistributing bridges in the form of bars of stiff material, the whole functioning in response 'to a localized blow rst locally to yield with a partial .shock absorbing action, then to 'locally distribute theforce of the blow over an mcreasedVbut at .the same time localized, area and then to yieldto the locally distributed force v with Aa shock Yabsorbing function.

2.'1In a protector for .a part offthe body, an

inner wall of substantial thickness of shock absorbing resilient material; a plurality of intermediate `:discontinuous .bridges of `stiff material each of :short length relatively to the size of the entire protector vfor locally distributing vthe force of r-a .blow ;A and an outer layer of shock absorbing resilient material, said protector kbeing flexible except along the length., of each short bridge.

.3. vIn a .protector for apart of the body, a composite protective pad comprising an outer protective sheet, then a layer of resilient shock absorbing materialsuch as sponge rubber, then a bridging shield, Ythen stiff spaced bridges of stiff material contacting Withsaid bridging shield; an inner layeriof substantial .thickness of shockabsorbng .resilient material acted .upon by said bridges and an inner protective sheet yfor said resilient layer. j

3 1 f JAMES P. TAYLOR. 

